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Middle Eastern stuffed potatoes (batata mahshieh)

In the middle east, we are rather fond of stuffing vegetables! Zucchini, eggplant, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, vine leaves and even cucumbers (you name it, we’ll stuff it!). These vegetables are filled with a variety of stuffings ranging from vegetarian rice and herbs to more carnivore friendly fillings like sauteed minced meat. Then they are cooked in some sort of sauce. This can be a tomato sauce like the one I am sharing with you today, or a tahini sauce or simply in water or stock that has been infused with spices, herbs and lemon juice.

The stuffing and the technique of cooking low and slow in a sauce transform the vegetables in terms of texture and taste and the result is comfort food at its finest 🙂 You see, this mode of cooking infuses the vegetables with the flavor notes of the filling and the sauce, layering those beautifully over the canvas of the vegetable’s original flavor. If you have never tried a recipe with stuffed vegetables I urge you to do so. You will understand the reason behind their popularity after the first bite 🙂
I posted a picture of these Middle Eastern stuffed potatoes on my Instagram feed a few days ago and got quite a few requests for the recipe, so here it is, I do hope that you’ll enjoy it 🙂

Sauce

Core the potatoes, for this you will need a utensil called “Munara” or “Squash coring tool”, if you can’t find it, you can use an apple corer instead.

To hollow the potatoes: insert the coring tool till it is about 1 cm from the base of the potato (I measure this on the outside of the potato before inserting the corer ) then rotate it to remove the core.

Now to widen the central hole you just created, insert the corer at a slight angle with the tip tilted towards the outer wall of the hole and do a scraping motion all around the walls of the central hole. Repeat this till the walls are about 1 cm in thickness. Reserve the potato core and shavings

Place the cored potato in a bowl making sure it is submerged in water (this is to prevent the potato from oxidizing and changing color as you finish coring the rest of the potatoes.

Prepare the filling:

Place the olive oil in a pan, then add the onions and saute them for 3-5 minutes until translucent.

Add the minced beef and cook over medium heat breaking the meat down while stirring

Season with salt, allspice, cinnamon and cardamom

Take off the heat and set aside

Drain the cored potatoes then fill the core you created with the minced beef filling

Place 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and shallow fry the potatoes turning them till they are golden brown on each side.

Remove the potatoes from the pan and place them on absorbent kitchen paper to remove the excess oil

Prepare the sauce: Blend the tomatoes with the water and till smoothly pureed

Assembly: Arrange the tomato slices in the bottom of a deep baking dish then top them with the potatoes in a single layer

pour over the tomato sauce till the potatoes are submerged.

Cover with parchment paper followed by foil and bake in a 200 C oven till the potatoes are cooked through (40 to 50 minutes)

Serve with rice and enjoy

Notes:

The potato shavings and cores can be used to make a potato frittata or some potato pancakes. Some people use them as a lining for the pan, placing them under the stuffed potatoes.You can also cook them in boiled water then mash them with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and some parsley for a middle eastern mashed potato dish than I just know you will love (remember to season with salt and allspice)

You can add pine nuts and parsley to the filling if you like

You can cook the potatoes in a pot over medium heat instead of baking them if you prefer not to turn on the oven on a hot day. I personally find that the potatoes retain better texture when baked as opposed to being cooked on the stove but they are really tasty either way

We rarely eat white rice too (we go for bulgur and quinoa mostly) but for some traditional recipes I break the rule because they are just not the same without it. I do hope that you’ll enjoy this one if you try it Eha

This sounds delicious. I’d like to make for my husband. I don’t eat beef. Do you think I could use chicken for mine or is there a vegetarian filling? A question on the tomatoes: do I research some for slices and purée the rest or am I confused?

Hello Luanne
You can use chicken for yours or some minced sauteed mushrooms if you like.
The two tomatoes listed with the filling are the ones you slice and place at the bottom.
The 1 kg of tomatoes is the one you puree